Civil servants, including doctors and teachers, have not been paid for more than two years and the devaluation of the currency means that despite food being on sale in markets most families cannot afford to buy it.

Adam, who also had a brain condition and shared his ward with other severely malnourished children, was unable to access health care until his family were able to save up to afford the transport to take him there.

Ms Touma believes if it was not for the intervention of organisations like her own “the situation is likely to have been even worse, much worse”.

Image:A girl at Al Thawra hospital, where Adam was being treated. Pic: UNICEF

She added: “”It is literally lifesaving for many, many children.”

Fighting in the port city risks cutting off the vital line organisations like UNICEF use to get nutrition, medicine and vaccines to those living there.

“It’s critical that the port continues to function,” she said, adding: “It’s a life-line for Yemen.”

News of Adam’s death comes as a group of 14 international non-governmental organisations, including Save the Children, Care and Action Against Hungry, signed a joint statement saying “as an urgent priority, civilians and children in particular in and around Hodeidah must be protected from the direct and indirect impact of the fighting.”

They call for urgent peace talks led by the UN special envoy and for the UN security council to adopt an “unequivocal resolution” to stop the violence.

Ms Touma said the only way to save the citizens of Yemen is for fighting to end.

She said UNICEF “welcomes the generosity from governments and individuals, including in the United Kingdom” and that it enables organisations like her own to deliver aid and training to the war-torn country.

“However, generosity alone is not enough and is a band-aid,” she explained.

“What is needed right now – today, not tomorrow – is for those fighting on the ground and those who have influence over them to reach an agreement to end the conflict in Yemen.”

Saudi Arabia and allies have been fighting in Yemen for more than three years against Iran-backed Houthis rebels, who control much of northern Yemen including the capital Sanaa and drove a Saudi-backed government into exile in 2014.

The UK and US have been criticised for providing logistical and military support to the Saudi-led coalition.

“For too long in the Yemen conflict, both sides have believed a military solution is possible, with catastrophic consequences for the people,” he said in a statement.

“Now for the first time there appears to be a window in which both sides can be encouraged to come to the table, stop the killing and find a political solution – that is the only long-term way out of disaster.”

Yemen has become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 22.2 million people in need of assistance.